Chapter 3: Settlements, Alliances, and Resistance

I. Early European Exploration & Claims (Pre-1607 English, Spanish, French)

• English Motivation and Beginnings
  • Hakluyt’s Pamphlet for the Virginia Enterprise ($1585$): argues for settlement as profit and a base against Catholic powers; aims for subjection and conversion of Native Americans linked to English interests.
  • James I (begins $1603$) supports expansion and non-pirate colonial ventures; investors fund the Virginia Company to seek minerals and passage to Asia.
• Early French Presence
  • Quebec founded by the French ($1608$) by Champlain; forms alliances with Montagnais and Hurons against the Iroquois.
• Early Spanish Presence
  • Florida (Spanish presence by $1565$).
  • Santa Fe established ($1610$) in New Spain; becomes capital of New Mexico.

II. The Chesapeake Colonies: Virginia & Maryland

Virginia (1607-1754)

• Foundation and Early Challenges
  • Jamestown, Virginia founded by the Virginia Company ($1607$); named for King James.
  • Site choice: near James River with poor water quality (tidal, brackish) and droughts.
  • "Starving time" ($1607-1608$); high mortality; internal council conflicts.
• John Smith and Powhatan Relations
  • John Smith leadership: policy of "work or you don’t eat"; Smith’s account of rescue by Pocahontas.
  • Powhatan Confederacy: Powhatan as regional overlord; Pocahontas’ role in Smith’s reprieve; temporary peace through trade and diplomacy.
  • English reliance on Powhatan for food; Powhatan uses English for political leverage.
  • After Smith’s departure ($1609$), famine intensified ("starving time").
• Economic Shift to Tobacco
  • Shift from trade with Indians to tobacco-based agriculture; tobacco quickly becomes the key cash crop.
  • Land and labor demand grow; headright system emerges to recruit labor: $100$ acres per settler plus $50$ acres per child, more for additional adults in a household.
• Slavery and Labor System Evolution
  • $1619$: arrival of African slaves marks a significant moment in the history of slavery.
  • Early experiments with freedom and mobility among Black and White workers (e.g., Anthony Johnson) coexist with slavery, evolving later into a race-based system.
  • By the mid-$1600s$, a growing colonial elite relies on enslaved labor to maximize tobacco production.
  • $1622$ attack: Openchancanough’s attack kills about $300$ of $1{,}200$ settlers; conflict continues for a decade.
  • Virginia Company bankrupt; $1624$ Virginia becomes a royal colony.
  • Bacon’s Rebellion ($1676$): challenges Virginia colonial government under Governor Berkeley; signals a turning point toward a more rigid, race-based system of slavery as a way to separate potential united labor uprisings.

Maryland (1630s-1754)

• Proprietary Colony and Religious Tolerance
  • Proprietary colony under Lord Baltimore (Calvert family).
  • $1649$ Act of Religious Toleration: freedom of worship to all Christians.
• Economy and Labor
  • $1635$ headright-like land grants: $100$ acres to each settler, $50$ acres per child, etc., aiding rapid settlement and tobacco agriculture.
  • $1661$ first laws defining slavery: slaves inherit status via law and lifelong servitude.
  • Slavery expands alongside tobacco, with free and enslaved Africans existing in a system transitioning toward hereditary bondage.

III. New England Colonies

Plymouth Colony (1620-1691)

• Separatists and Self-Governance
  • $1620$: Mayflower lands at Plymouth; $102$ passengers, a mix of Puritan Separatists (Pilgrims) and Strangers.
  • Mayflower Compact: establishes self-governance by consent; a modest foundation for civil order in an unsettled land.
• Early Hardships and Native Relations
  • First winter ($1620-1621$) kills many settlers.
  • Squanto, Massasoit, and Samoset provide crucial assistance, leading to the first harvest and a peaceful alliance with the Wampanoag.
  • The first Thanksgiving commemorates cooperation between Pilgrims and Native peoples; Massasoit participates with gifts.

Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629-1754)

• Great Migration and Puritan Vision
  • Great Migration: about $20{,}000$ Puritans migrate to Massachusetts Bay ($1629$ onward); led by John Winthrop.
  • Aim: to create a model religious colony with civil and ecclesiastical governance (a "City upon a Hill").
• Governance and Society
  • Governance: the Great and General Court becomes the colony’s legislative body; voting limited to church members.
  • Literacy valued: Harvard College founded ($1636$); Boston Latin School; $1647$ compulsory schooling for towns.
  • Roger Williams ($1631$): argues for religious liberty and separation of church and state; banished.
  • Anne Hutchinson: challenges to Puritan orthodoxy; banished to Rhode Island ($1637$).
  • Halfway Covenant ($1662$): allows baptism of grandchildren of church members; signals evolving church membership criteria.

Connecticut (1637-1754)

• Separation and Governance
  • $1637$ Connecticut settlers (Hartford) form a separate government.
  • Fundamental Orders of Connecticut ($1639$): often cited as an early constitutional document or "first constitution."

Rhode Island (1636-1754)

• Religious Dissent and Tolerance
  • Founded Providence, Rhode Island ($1636$) by Roger Williams.
  • Becomes a haven for religious dissenters and pays Indians for land.
  • Williams fosters better relations with tribes such as the Wampanoag and Narragansett.
  • Rhode Island’s religious tolerance contrasts with Massachusetts’ stricter governance.

Native American Conflicts in New England

• Pequot War ($1637$)
  • Puritans align with Mohegan and Narragansett against the Pequots.
  • The war ends with the massacre at Mystic River and the destruction of the Pequots’ society.
• King Philip’s War ($1675-1676$)
  • A brutal, large-scale conflict between English settlers and Indigenous groups (Wampanoag, Narragansett, and allied tribes) led by Metacom (King Philip).
  • High casualties, widespread destruction, and the decimation of the Narragansett and Wampanoag communities.
  • Great Swamp Fight (Dec $1675$) marks one of the war’s fiercest battles.
  • Post-war consequences: hundreds of Native people sold into slavery in the Caribbean; English settlements expand while tribes westward and land access shrink.

IV. Middle Colonies

New York (1620s-1754)

• Dutch Origins
  • New Amsterdam founded ($1626$) by the Dutch West India Company near Manhattan.
  • Fur trade core to Dutch activity.
  • Religious tolerance attracts variety of settlers (Jews, Catholics, Quakers, Muslims).
  • Slavery exists in New Amsterdam and grows in the Hudson area.
• English Acquisition
  • $1664$: English grant lands to the Duke of York (later James II); New Amsterdam renamed New York.
  • Brief Dutch recapture in $1673$; permanently English by $1674-1675$.

New Jersey (1664-1754)

• Evolves as a diverse colony with land grants and religious and political freedoms; later divisions into East and West Jersey.

Pennsylvania & Delaware (1681-1754)

• Pennsylvania Foundation
  • William Penn (Quaker) granted Pennsylvania by Charles II in $1681$; Philadelphia founded as “City of Brotherly Love.”
  • Penn’s peaceful relations with Native Americans and purchase of land reflects Quaker ideals.
  • By $1700$, approx. $18{,}000$ Europeans had settled.
  • Slavery enters early ($1684$: $150$ African slaves arrive in Philadelphia).
• Governance and Delaware
  • Charter of Liberties ($1701$): establishes elected assembly.
  • Three southern counties form Delaware and obtain their own assembly.
  • Penn’s governance emphasizes pacifism and fair dealing with tribes, yet slavery remains in society.
• Middle Colonies Social/Economic Structures
  • A mix of Dutch, German, and English settlers creates a diverse economy.
  • The presence of Quakers and other dissenters shapes social norms.

V. Southern Colonies: Carolina & Georgia

Carolina (1663-1754)

• Founded as a proprietary colony; develops a hierarchical society prioritizing rice and tobacco.
• By $1729$, the colony splits into North and South Carolina.

Georgia (1733-1754)

• James Oglethorpe’s colony ($1733$) designed as a debtor haven and frontier defense against Spanish Florida.
• Initially restricts Catholics and Africans; later evolves into a plantation economy with enslaved labor.

VI. Spanish North America

• Florida
  • Spanish presence in Florida (from $1565$).
• New Mexico
  • Santa Fe ($1610$) as the capital of New Mexico.
  • Pueblo Revolt ($1680$): massive Indigenous uprising led by Popé against Catholic missionaries; briefly drives Spaniards from Santa Fe and destroys much of the Spanish religious infrastructure.
  • Vargas expedition ($1690s$) and reconversion strategy ($1692$): Spaniards reassert control with a policy that allows cultural syncretism (Indians may retain some religious practices but convert to Christianity).
• California Missions
  • California missions (starting $1769$): chain of missions from San Diego to San Francisco.
  • San Antonio ($1718$, in Texas) and San Antonio’s fortifications.
  • Missions as a tool of colonization and cultural change; by $1775$, a network of missions and settlements across Alta California.

VII. French North America

• New France and the Interior Empire
  • Champlain ($1608$) establishes Quebec; forms alliances with the Montagnais and Hurons against the Iroquois.
  • $1615-1616$: French exploration of the Great Lakes; Montreal established; population grows slowly.
  • Joliet, Marquette ($1673$): exploration of the Mississippi; establish French-Indian alliances to block English expansion and gain fur trade access.
  • La Salle ($1682$): claims “Louisiana” and all lands along the Mississippi; attempts to extend French influence to the Gulf of Mexico; La Salle is murdered by his own followers in $1687$.
  • $1698-1718$: Forts and settlements along the Gulf Coast (Biloxi, Mobile, New Orleans) as part of expanding French influence.
  • New Orleans founded in $1718$.
  • $1730s-1760s$: growth of slavery in Louisiana